Podcast Summary: What I Survived

Episode: Wild Bill – The Cartel Hitman – P2
Host: Jack Laurence
Date: March 31, 2026

Episode Overview

In this gripping second part of Wild Bill’s story, Jack Laurence digs deeper into the harrowing experiences of William “Wild Bill” Holbert — once one of Central America’s most notorious hitmen, now imprisoned in Panama. The episode focuses on Bill’s transitions: from a fugitive in Central America, to people smuggler, killer, and eventually an underworld fixer for the region’s elite. Through candid first-person accounts, listeners journey through the physical and psychological toll of living on the edge of crime, violence, and survival.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Life Inside Panama’s Notorious Prison

• Set-up: Jack describes the violence and chaos of Bill’s current Panamanian prison:

  • Overcrowded, gunfights (notably a deadly 2019 riot), and rampant contraband delivered by drones.
  • Drones delivering drugs create further tensions and alter the power dynamics inside.

  Notable Moment (03:00):

  “A ball of drug was dropped by a drone, but it missed and it hit our cell block... The police thought it was ours... They come down really fast with a search and I got my phone hidden in time..."
  — Bill (Wild Bill)

  • Phones are coveted; after a raid, 16 phones confiscated to just 3 left for 16 inmates.
  • Bill’s paranoia and strategies for survival, including “not letting anyone use my phone,” due to risk of sabotage and envy.

Becoming a Smuggler: The Coyote Operation

• Backstory: After fleeing the US, Bill lives in Costa Rica with Italian bank robbers, eventually landing work as a “coyote” smuggling people by boat (05:29).

  • Smuggled primarily Chinese migrants from Panama to Jamaican waters.
  • Each trip: 60–80 people, four-day roundtrips, earning $4,000–$5,000 a week.

  Bill explains (05:45):

  “Coyote refers to people...who help people cross borders illegally. This was a boat, boatloads of Asian, particularly Chinese people... I was making about four or five thousand dollars a week.”

• The Job's Dangers:

  • Risks both legal and ethical — including an incident where a young girl’s leg was crushed boarding another boat in heavy seas, and her subsequent execution by Jamaicans for mercy.

  Heartbreaking Account (07:15):

  “She slipped and one of her feet fell in between the boats...it broke her leg so damn bad that the bones were sticking out...Jamaicans just pull her up into the boat, blood everywhere...I heard a gunshot...they shot her...and threw her in the water.”
  — Bill (Wild Bill)

  • Bill reflects on guilt, questioning if he could have saved her, the cruelty of the trade, and the haunting nature of the event.

Bill’s First Kill: Self-Defense & Consequences

• Incident:

  • Recalls his first killing during a job—an altercation with an American "security" deckhand who was abusive.
  • Bill kills the man in self-defense with a boat anchor during a fight (11:29–14:23).

  Description (13:27):

  “I slipped and I fell back on my back and he fell on top of me...I grabbed [a boat anchor] and I smashed it over his head...his brains and blood come sporing out and he’s dead, dead as shit.”
  — Bill (Wild Bill)

• Aftermath:

  • The criminal boss distances himself (“No, no, no, no, no. We don’t have a problem. You got a problem.”), pays Bill, and leaves him to dispose of the body.

  Notable Quote (14:44):

  “I covered up the body with a blue tarp...So the boss man walks out...He hands me my money and the money of the other guy, too...I paid both of you. I’m going home. I don’t know anything else about nothing. And left me there with the body.”
  — Bill (Wild Bill)

Trauma, Guilt & Visions

• Haunting Experiences:

  • Bill describes being more afraid of getting caught than guilt but experiences visions/hallucinations related to the killing.
  • Visualizes the dead man in his room and kitchen, eventually confronting the vision to find peace.

  Bill’s Reflection (16:49):

  “I laid down...and I saw a man-sized shadow moving around the bottom of the bed...opened the nightstand and took out a .38 revolver and turned on the light and there was nobody there...For just the briefest, I saw him, he was there for like two seconds and then he was gone...I called his name and said, get the fuck out of my house...”
  — Bill (Wild Bill)

Underworld Fixer: Costa Rica’s Elite

• New Gig:

  • Bill lies low in the city and, through a chance meeting with a high-end pimp (“Rolf”), enters the world of debt collections for the Costa Rican upper crust.
  • Executes a debt collection for $25,000; is paid half as a commission.

  Memorable Exchange (19:51):

  “So I went and talked to the man. Me and a baseball bat went and talked to the man and he paid me the $25,000 that he owed Rolf...He gives me $12,500 and I’m like, what the hell? Half.”
  — Bill (Wild Bill)

• Black Tie Society:

  • Invited to exclusive “country club” events, introduced as a problem-solver and fixer.
  • Helps a judge break up his daughter’s relationship with a drug trafficker (baseball bat intimidation again), is publicly thanked, and rewarded with a $45,000 envelope.

  Standout Scene (23:13):

  “He introduces me to this little fat bald headed judge... He explains to me that his daughter’s dating a Colombian drug trafficker...if I could convince the man to break it off, then he would be thankful... He jumps up... 'Mi amigo!' ...pulls me down...and he says, 'Thank you. Thank you. You saved my family.'”
  — Bill (Wild Bill)

  • Bill becomes the favored fixer for Costa Rica’s elite, living in a lavish villa, rubbing shoulders with the region’s most powerful.

Trouble Returns: Time to Flee

• Warning Call:

  • Bill’s contact with the Costa Rican equivalent of the FBI warns him of a warrant for his arrest (27:05).

  Urgent Moment (27:05):

  “My contact at the OIJota...called me and said, 'Hey, man, they’ve issued a warrant for your arrest. You gotta get the fuck out of here.'”
  — Bill (Wild Bill)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On prison technology and envy:

  “Most guys hide their phone in the door...The cops don’t know how to get them out. So this time they just came with a side cutter and a welder and cut every one of the doors. And there were 16 phones in here. 16 men, 16 phones, and now there’s three. That’s really problematic.”
  — Bill (Wild Bill), 03:00

• On dealing with trauma:

  “I’m not a person that handles stress in a bad way...But I saw him. He was in the room...For just the briefest I saw him, he was there for like two seconds and then he was gone...I called his name and I said, get the fuck out of my house.”
  — Bill (Wild Bill), 16:49

• On networking with the elite:

  “He saves my family...And he said, and I have something for you...there was $45,000 in the envelope.”
  — Bill (Wild Bill), 23:13; 25:45

• On perpetual danger:

  “Where Wild Bill goes, trouble’s not far behind.”
  — Jack Laurence, 26:48

Important Timestamps

• 03:00 – Bill describes the chaos and contraband in Panama’s prison system.
• 05:29 – Origin story as a coyote; smuggling operation explained.
• 07:15 – Horrific death of a migrant girl at sea.
• 11:29–14:23 – First killing, detailed account of altercation and aftermath.
• 16:49 – Bill discusses psychological effects, guilt, and hallucinations.
• 19:51 – Career pivot: first debt collection for Costa Rican underworld.
• 23:13 – Bill’s entrance into elite society, judge’s gratitude, and big payday.
• 25:45 – Realization of just how lucrative the fixer role could be.
• 27:05 – OIJota warning: imminent arrest, time to escape.

Tone & Atmosphere

• Candid, raw, and darkly reflective: Bill’s narration is unflinching, matter-of-fact, and colored by a blend of bravado, guilt, and resignation.
• Host Jack Laurence provides context, maintains journalistic distance, and signals to the audience when moments are particularly shocking or meaningful.

Takeaway

This episode exposes the shadowy realities of international crime from the inside: harrowing violence, shifting morality, and the unstable rewards of living outside the law. Bill's story is both a personal confession and a chilling documentation of survival, for both himself and the many who did not.

For more on Wild Bill’s prison experience and transformation into a Christian minister, see the show notes.